Implantable medical devices (IMDs) are revolutionizing healthcare by offering continuous monitoring, diagnosis, and essential therapies for a variety of medical conditions. They can capture, process, and store various types of physiological signals, and are envisioned as the key to enabling a holistic approach to healthcare. Rapid technological advances in wireless communication, sensing, signal processing and low-power electronics are transforming the design and development of IMDs. State-of-the-art IMDs, e.g., pacemakers and implantable drug infusion systems, commonly support short-range wireless connectivity, which enables remote diagnosis and/or monitoring of chronic disorders and post-deployment therapy adjustment. Moreover, wireless connectivity allows healthcare professionals to non-intrusively monitor the device status, e.g., physicians can gauge the device battery level without performing any surgery.
Despite the numerous services that wireless connectivity offers, it may make an IMD susceptible to various security attacks. Previous research efforts have demonstrated how wireless connectivity may be a security loophole that can be exploited by an attacker. Improvements in this regard are needed.